Show and Tell
by Raina Wolfe - Lateraina
Summary: Sequel to Freeze Out. Dash, Paulina, Valerie, Tucker, Sam, and Danny are stuck once again, but this time in the Ghost Zone.
1. Practice Round

Miss this story? Yeah, I did too. I did receive over 120 reviews for three simple chapters over the last few years and I really appreciate it. So, I've decided to update this one first, before I updated Life Sucks And Then You Die & It's The Fear.

Thanks to my many and ever-growing fans & reviewers!

This is a definitely newer version of Show & Tell. It has the same plotline – April fools day in the Ghost Zone, but I have edited it to fit newer episodes and to help with the text flow. I think the original moved too fast and didn't flow very well. So, this version might be a little easier to understand.

New ghosts, old ghosts, and a lot of romance, drama, humor, and action! Enjoy my friends!

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman & Nickelodeon Studios.

Show & Tell

Chapter One – Practice Rounds

"Casper Ravens, win, win, win! Rock 'em, sock 'em, hit 'um again! Show those wimpies what we're made of, rock 'um, stomp 'um, take 'um, break 'um!"

Paulina Sanchez floated high into the sky, supported by her fellow cheerleaders. They tossed her gently once and she soared back down, her black hair billowing out beneath her head. The seven girls caught her, helped her to stand, and then they struck a pose together, ending the cheer.

"Great guys!" Trina, the cheer coach shouted. She clapped her hands together. "Go ahead and take five."

Paulina grinned as she grabbed a bottle of Gatorade from the bench, spotting three familiar faces up in the bleachers. She'd made many plans earlier, but she couldn't do anything at the moment; not with his watchdog hanging all over him…

She turned her gaze to the football team and watched the boys take off their helmets and head for the water hoses. Looked like they were on break as well.

She quickly caught quarterback Dash Baxter's attention by waving her pom-poms. He was standing close range to her, on the sidelines. She leaned over the fence separating them.

"Hey Dash!" she greeted.

"Hi," he said, downing a bottle of water.

"And what have you been up to?"

"Practice." He grinned.

"I see that. How much longer do you have? Until you have to go back."

"We just finished," he replied. He wiped sweat from his face, smearing the black paint he had underneath his eyes.

"Cool. Want to do me a favor?"

"What now?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh, relax," she assured him. She glanced back over in the direction of the bleachers. "Let's say you owe me."

"I don't owe you anything Paulina."

"Well then, do it for a friend," she snapped. She put on the sweetest act, hoping it would convince him, making circles on his bare-skinned arm with her fingers. "For me, please?"

"What?"

"How about you get rid of the Goth-geek for me so I can work my magic, mess with his head for awhile," she said.

"How about no?"

"Ugh, why do I even bother?" she asked, more to herself.

"Hey, this game you got going on is your own," he said. "You want Fentina, I'm not going to have any part of it whatsoever." He rolled his indigo eyes and turned towards the bleachers. Something had caught his attention and whatever it was, it was still there. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Paulina asked, following his gaze.

Floating in midair, both suspended, were two figures. One was male, floating without help and the other was female, gliding on some sort of glider.

Paulina grinned. She took Dash's hand. She was going to drag him along whether he liked it or not. "Come on, let's go find out shall we?"

……………

"Soy, eres, es, Ud., es…" Sam Manson listed, searching her head for words.

"What are you doing?" Tucker Foley asked.

"Thinking of things to sort of say in Spanish so that Paulina might actually understand English," she replied, leaning lazily against the bleachers.

Danny Fenton made confused look cute. "That…doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know how to describe it other than that," she said, shrugging. She smacked his knee playfully.

"Ow," he said in mock pain, not even moving.

"I'm so bored," Tucker said. He automatically brought out his PDA and began playing with it. Faint noises emitted from the itty bitty speakers, but his two best friends were so used to it by now that they completely ignored it.

"You're the one who suggested we come here," Sam challenged.

"The cheerleaders got shorter skirts…" He grinned and raised his eyebrows at Danny, who hid his grin as soon as Sam looked at him.

"I have an idea," Danny said suddenly.

"Ding, light bulb," both Tucker and Sam said in unison.

"Seriously, would you guys lay off that?" he complained, running his hands through his jet black hair in annoyance.

"Oh, come on, you set yourself up for that one," Tucker said, laughing.

"We only tease you because it's funny," Sam added.

"And because you don't remember makes it even funnier."

"I fail to see the humor, really I do," Danny said. "And besides, I'm not the one who went streaking through the school screaming like Tarzan."

"There's something about wearing loin cloth that makes a boy feel free."

"You weren't wearing anything."

"And I still felt free. Besides, I bet Valerie enjoyed the show."

There was a blast of energy fired towards Tucker, landing hardly a few inches away from his hand on the bleacher. He jumped in shock, turning around to see a familiar figure dressed in a maroon jumpsuit, riding gracefully on a glider, weapon in hand.

"You only know half the show I'll enjoy."

"That didn't sound right," Danny muttered.

"Go kick her butt," Tucker said, nudging his best friend.

"She's your girlfriend."

"Hey Phantom! Want to get in a little practice rounds? I'm tired of fighting the Box Ghost. If I see another box, I'll go crazy."

"…er…" Tucker whispered, grinning.

Valerie had heard. Tucker after all, wasn't the most discreet person on the planet. She fired another shot, this time aimed for his other hand. He moved just as a jet of green energy smacked into the metal.

"Next time I won't miss," she warned with teasing eyes. "Come on Danny, I'm bored. Please? Come play rough with me."

"Wow, that really didn't sound right either," he replied. "But I suppose."

"You two play it safe now," Tucker said.

Danny sighed, jumping to his feet and then slid under one of the bleachers, transforming before he'd come out from beneath it and appearing behind Valerie. Hand glowing with ectoplasmic energy, he asked, "What's the point of practicing when you know I'm going tow in anyway?"

"Fat chance," Valerie called back. She swung around on her glider and aimed, pressing her finger down hard on the trigger. He jumped up, turning intangible as he flipped in midair.

"Cheater!" she shouted.

"Gotta be faster than that!"

"How's this?" She pulled out another weapon and aimed for him. Pink energy flew from the beam and almost hit him, but his own blast of ectoplasmic energy caught the shot. The two energies met in midair and collided, shattering on impact to create a colorful rain that showered onto the ground where Sam and Tucker were watching. They weren't alone anymore – Dash and Paulina were now below, enjoying the show as well.

Danny threw out his hand, deciding to ignore them, and a streak of electricity flew from his fingers, trailing towards Valerie's glider. She dodged, but just barely.

"Show off!"

Her fingers pressed against another trigger just as a streak of air came from Danny's mouth. He shivered. "Uh oh."

Valerie's glider slid to a halt in front of Danny. "Ghost?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Above you," said a voice. The two teens gasped, both turning towards the voice.

A few feet above the horizon, a ghost hovered, white cape covering most of its pale visage. "Hello Valerie."

"Who are you?" she said. She glanced at Danny when the ghost didn't answer, but the half-ghost's eyes were wide with fear, a shiver running down his spine. "Danny, what's wrong? Who is that?"

When Danny didn't respond, Valerie kicked up another weapon to double-wield. "I don't care who you are, you're going down."

"You should care. But go ahead and try me," the ghost said. "Unless you're too busy saving your little friends."

"What?" Valerie looked down, but her four friends were safe and sound. "What are you talking-"

A scream erupted behind her and she instantly covered her ears, gasping. The noise was awful, as if someone was wailing – in pain – and all she could do was block out the noise, hands pressed against the sides of her head.

The glider beneath her vibrated and then jerked and she fumbled for footing. Out of the corner of her eye she watched waves of energy hit the earth, one after another, until the ground split, protruding fork like, and a portal opened, catching Sam, Tucker, Paulina, and Dash inside.

"No!" she heard Danny shout, still beside her. He dove towards the ground and Valerie tried to follow, but her glider seemed to be faulty suddenly, whirring haphazardly as she soared towards the portal.

Danny dodged falling rocks as he flew down deeper into the eerie, luminescent abyss that the portal had led to. Gaining speed, he whizzed into the oblivion where he'd seen Sam and Tucker fall.

As he darted around another rock, he spotted Sam and Dash in front of him, shouting as they continued to fall. He raced towards them, grabbing Dash by the arm and Sam around the waist at the same time. He avoided more falling objects as he flew upwards.

"Look, a ledge!" Sam said, pointing.

Danny flew to where she pointed, setting the two down on the narrow ledge. He gazed up, but the portal closed with a snap.

"We're in the Ghost Zone," Sam realized.

"I'm going to find Tucker."

"Paulina's down there too," Dash said.

Danny nodded, running towards the edge. He leapt at the last possible second and disappeared out of Sam's sight, flying amidst the rocks and dirt.

"Are you guys okay?"

Sam jumped, turning around to see Valerie standing a few feet away, lowering both Tucker and Paulina onto the solid ground of the ledge.

"I'm fine," she said. Dash looked too frightened to reply.

"That ghost locked us in here," Valerie said, glancing around, her eyes dark through the screen of her suit. "Where's Danny?"

"He went to look for you guys," she answered, gazing down into the abyss again.

"We've got to get out of here before that ghost comes back," she insisted.

"Not without Danny."

"I can steer us out of here, but I'm going to need your help," Valerie said, too lost in her own plans to hear Sam. She turned to Tucker. "Would you guys know-"

"No freaking way am I going to follow _you _out of here. I don't even know you. Give me a reason to trust you. You'd probably run me off a cliff."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Sam muttered.

"Where exactly is here?" Dash asked, rubbing his arms.

Valerie didn't answer, lowering her hood. Her curly black hair unfurled behind her and she sighed. "We're in the Ghost Zone. This time without a shield."

"And without the rest of the city," Tucker added. "No food, no shelter, no Specter Speeder. And no food."

"Tucker." Sam's warning gaze shut him up.

"So, if you were fighting Danny Phantom, where is he?" Paulina wondered, an odd look on her face.

Worried, Sam pressed her hands around her mouth, calling "Danny!" to the abyss below. Despite how badly she'd wanted to hear a response, there wasn't one.

Valerie made a motion to put her hand on the Goth girl's shoulders, but hesitated. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

"Wait, we're not going to leave Danny Phantom behind if he is down there," Paulina said, forcefully shoving past Sam.

"Do you want to stay here?" Valerie challenged. "Phantom's a big ghost now, he can handle himself. He knows how to get out, we don't. The only thing we could possibly do is follow those rocks and see if it leads out."

"Through the Fenton Portal," Sam said.

"Yeah," Valerie agreed.

"Otherwise we're ghost food," Tucker said, shivering. He glanced at the small trails of rock – their feeble hope of escaping the Ghost Zone and sighed.

"Anyone else have any better ideas?" Valerie asked, staring mainly at Paulina, who made a face, but didn't say a word.

Tucker cleared his throat, sighing heartily. "Move out troops."

Valerie pulled out a weapon, holding it close to her side. "We'll be protected against a few ghosts this way."

Paulina and Dash followed her hesitantly, still staring around with paranoid eyes, their breaths coming in short puffs of air. Sam also glanced back behind her, begging to see Danny somewhere – but she couldn't see a thing.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Small summary for chapter one – Valerie/Tucker romance; Danny/Sam romance; "Phantom Planet" has not occurred yet for this one, but it is the only one that does not take reference. Meaning, Dash and Paulina do not know Danny Phantom's true identity. Remember that this is the third in a four-part series and some plotlines are preceded by the first two.

Please R&R! _Chapter Two – Valerie_

Raina Wolfe – Lateraina


	2. Valerie

Hello! Back with freshly edited chapter two!

Thanks to chapter one's reviewers!

Show And Tell

Chapter Two – Valerie

Great. This was absolutely perfect. And to think, this day had actually started out fairly good for me. My dad had received a promotion at his job, I'd brought up my math and health grades at last, and I'd settled down with real friends…and maybe even a real boyfriend.

And now – what a frickin mess I'd stumbled into. I was stuck with two of my ex-friends, stuck inside the Ghost Zone, and horribly lost.

"Do you really know where you're going? I'm not wearing the right shoes to be walking around circles," Paulina said.

"Step off me chica, I'm working on it," I snapped. I so didn't have time or patience for her drama right now. As if I didn't have enough problems. I loaded up the gun in my hand. "We're heading this way. Follow me and stay close."

The direction I'd chosen, south, was a thicker pathway that inclined half-way through and then spiraled out into the distance. The Ghost Zone seemed creepier when I didn't know where I was. Doors hung, suspended, everywhere and there were eerie screams randomly, echoing throughout the zone. It was freezing cold and I was trying to keep moving in order to stop shivering.

"I want Danny Phantom," Paulina whined.

I saw Sam's eyes narrow with an overprotective glare. I wished Sam would figure out that Danny (Phantom and Fenton) wasn't into Paulina anymore. He didn't seem to be at least. I knew darn well Danny was lovesick over Sam and if she didn't see that, maybe Sam had taken over the clueless role.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked Tucker, slowing my pace to fall back beside him.

He glanced around and said, "It looks familiar. I think we passed by this area in the Specter Speeder."

"The what?" I had to ask.

"It's this vehicle that we use to drive around this place. We've used it a lot, but most of the time, we get lost."

"I say we follow the yellow brick road," I suggested, looking at the widening path ahead. "If we don't get anywhere familiar…or anywhere…within the next hour, we'll take a different route."

He nodded. "Sounds kosher."

Sam also shook her head, but looked preoccupied. I knew why. She was worried about Danny. I was too, but I had to get us out of here. If Danny knew the way out, he could do it again like he'd done with me before.

"Follow me," I yelled back to Dash and Paulina as they started to drop behind.

The next five minutes went by in a steady silence. Personally, I'd never thought it was possible for Tucker to shut up for so long, but his lips were shut. Then again, I probably shouldn't have jinxed it.

"Marco," Tucker sprouted off.

"What are you doing?" Dash said, seeming annoyed.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not a big fan of the whole uncomfortable silence," he replied. He was smiling. He was either trying to be funny or annoying. Either way, I couldn't help but smile back.

"We could play truth or dare," Paulina suggested.

"No," came three replies; including me. Tucker and Dash had also answered.

"I was just kidding. Tucker and Danny were the only fun ones anyway," she said.

"How was Fenton funny?" Dash wondered, disgusted. He almost sounded jealous. But then again, hearing a pretty girl you used to be crushed out on woo over an unpopular weirdo had to be hard. (Literally.)

She pulled her hands together in front of her. "He broke into Lancer's car. He's such a daredevil," she replied dreamily.

I don't think Paulina realized how close she was to getting her face punched in. Sam looked pretty homicidal. I didn't think Paulina really liked Danny, I just think she was after him because Sam had him. It was an old game my old friend used to play all the time.

I was glad I got out of that.

"Hey, I'm the one who ran naked through the school," Tucker reminded, grinning.

"That is one visual I really do not need to visualize again," I said.

"Hey!" he said in a mock-defensive voice.

I thought of something as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Do you have your PDA with you?"

"What? You mean, you actually want me to use it?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, do you have it?"

"I have four."

"Still in your pants?" Dash asked.

I couldn't resist bursting into laughter, remembering quite clearly the time we'd been stuck in the elevator together.

"That's not the only thing I have in-"

"Whoa, whoa, over sharing," I said.

"If you would have finished that, I would have hurled," Sam muttered.

"Too true," Tucker responded, raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Where did you get that?" Dash said.

It took a second before I realized he was speaking to me. "What?"

"That gun." He pointed to the weapon in my hand.

"It came with the job," I replied vaguely.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

I jumped, then groaned. "You have got to be kidding me." However, even though the voice had sounded very close, I saw nothing. He was either invisible or had completed a very random drive by.

"What was that?" Dash asked.

"The Box Ghost," Sam and I said together.

"What do we do? We don't have a ghost hunter here." Paulina huddled close to Dash, seeming very small and fragile.

"I'm a ghost hunter," I said. "But even if we do react, it won't matter. He will still come back. The Box Ghost _always _comes back," I said with emphasis, quoting something Danny had once said.

"Even if you are a ghost hunter, I don't feel safe," Paulina snapped. "You're like seventeen, you can't be as good as Danny Phantom."

I thought this statement was pretty funny, considering Danny was only like a month older than I was. "Just so you know-" I began.

Tucker stepped between us, obviously sensing danger. "Not now, we're not going to get out of here by arguing. Can you please, just relax?"

I sighed. "For once, Tucker's right. We need to work together."

"For once?"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!!"

"What the-" I spun around and finally caught sight of him. Paulina and Dash gasped in unison. We were all turned to see the round, short ghost sporting blue suspenders. He was floating near one of the doors, trying to shove something inside. Glancing closer, I realized it was a glowing-green, cardboard box.

"I say we just leave him," I said, almost in a whisper. "Obviously, he's not here to torment us."

"If you're a ghost hunter, why don't you take care of him? Isn't that what ghost hunters do?" Dash asked.

"It won't make any difference," I said again. "Besides, even if I do confront him, what am I going to do with him? I still haven't figured out how to work those stupid thermoses."

"Someone taught me," Sam said. "I'll do it if he decides to mess with us."

"Thanks." I smiled encouragingly and got a fractional smile back.

Another shriek echoed behind me and I turned around, only to get a face full of ectoplasm. I felt myself fly through the air and land on hard stone. My weapon fell out of my hand, teetering on the edge.

I turned around, wincing, to see a ghost hovering above me. He looked vaguely familiar and I had a sudden flash of déjà vu, like I'd seen him before. But where? For some reason, I understood when Sam and Tucker gasped loudly. It was the same ghost that had trapped us in here!

"No, you can't be real!" Sam shouted, backing away.

"It's not possible," Tucker said hoarsely.

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was seriously ticked off. I grabbed another gun and fired in his direction. It flew towards him rapidly – then went straight through him.

"Valerie, so nice to see you again."

It was my turn to be surprised. "Who are you?"

But instead of answering my question, he suddenly turned invisible. I kicked up another weapon from my leg holster and double-wielded them, turning to watch from every side.

Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing for nearly five minutes. I turned, sighing. "Who the heck was that?" I asked Sam and Tucker, rubbing my sore ribs. I'd feel that in the morning.

Tucker for once, seemed speechless. Whoever it was, it was big and bad. Sam was the one who answered the question.

"Someone we thought we'd never see again," Sam said. She turned to Tucker, speaking in low tones. "What does this mean?"

"It means we need to find Danny now," Tucker said, his eyes wide.

"We need to get out of here before we all die," Dash said.

"Do you not eve care about Danny?" Paulina argued. "We're not leaving until we find him and he gets us out of here. So if things like that come back, we're protected."

"What did that ghost want?" Dash said.

They were asking too many questions. "I don't know." Danny's best friends exchanged glances, but didn't say a word. I sighed again, getting frustrated. They could let me in on _something. _"Let's move."

"Wait, what about Danny?" Paulina begged.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "What about him?" She was really giving me a headache. Being trapped in the Ghost Zone wasn't helping either.

"We can't just leave him. Don't_ you_ care?"

"Of course I do. Danny's a big boy, he can find his way out."

"How do you know that?"

"Because she knows him better than you do," Sam said.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Paulina shouted.

"Stop it!" I yelled, making them both jump. "We're going, because we're getting nowhere standing around here and doing nothing."

"Valerie and Tucker are right," Dash suddenly said, even though Tucker hadn't said anything this time. "Can we just get out of here please?" I flashed him a thankful smile and to my surprise, he returned it.

"Everyone ready?" I asked. "Stay behind me. The faster we get out of here, the better off we'll be."

I turned around and had barely taken a step forward when something dropped down in front of me, landing catlike on the stone that I'd been planning to walk on.

I pointed my weapon towards the figure, locked and loaded. It looked up, flashing bright green eyes and I gasped, frozen in terror.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ha ha, nice little cliffhanger there. It's about to get chilly. And funnier. The next chapter is very funny. Read and review please!

Next chapter – _Chapter Three: Dash_

Lateraina Wolf


	3. Dash

Hello!

Hey guys? Guys, guys, guys. The Elevator Gang series is not that dramatic. I love you all, but Dan Phantom doesn't come into this story, but I understand where some of you came up with that idea. And as for those of you who thought it was Vlad, he comes into this story, but for something totally different. So…I can torture you again with another mysterious cliffhanger at the end of this chapter…hee hee. I'm telling you, I'm going to throw you off so bad like I did last time… I mean, who would have thought that after Danny was hit by a car he was woken up by smelling salts and became high? Hee hee…how many of you would have really guessed that?

Thanks to my reviewers!

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**Starting March 10: **I'm only going to start updating certain ones so that maybe I can finish a few. So, from March 10 through 20, these stories will be updated only: Insight View, Could It Be Any Harder, Virtuality, Extremities, and Right Here. The next ten days will change and I'll have a schedule up soon for those.

Chapter Three

Dash

Paulina screamed and jumped into me. I looked past her at the figure and even I didn't know how to react.

He was covered in some sort of dust, and by covered, I mean, covered. I couldn't figure out what it was either. And whatever it was… It looked up and I saw a glimpse of—blue eyes.

"Danny!" Sam suddenly shouted, rushing over to him.

I sighed in relief and wasn't the only one; Valerie and Tucker looked glad that it wasn't some psycho ghost and Paulina looked pure glad. I rolled my eyes. Whatever…

He stood up and shook himself off. Valerie beat her hands up against him, brushing off dust. "Danny, what happened to--"

"How about we get out of here, now?" he interrupted. Finally, at least someone who seemed to be in a hurry to get out. Everyone else seemed to be taking their dear sweet time.

"What's wrong?" Sam and Tucker asked at the same time.

"It's a long story," he said. "But it took me forever to find you again. You went the wrong direction."

"Oh, great," Paulina grumbled. "I'm glad you found us Danny, we could have been wandering here forever." She smiled sweetly, ignoring all the looks she was receiving, one including from me.

This was nauseating.

He laughed uneasily. "Let's just get out of here." He started walking, and Sam followed close behind, still brushing the dust off of him. At least I could start to glimpse his hair. It looked black and silver all at the same time. That was weird.

"Don't," he muttered low to her, looking down at his hand. She stopped, her eyes widening as she looked at his hand as well.

"What?" I asked along with Paulina.

"Nothing," he replied shortly. "Come on, we'd better get moving."

"Do you really know the way out of here?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Come on. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

Finally, something we could agree about. I was starting to like Fenton a lot better. And if he got me out of here, I guess he could get a free day.

"Danny, tell me what's going on," Valerie suddenly said. She softened her tone as he glanced back at her. And I really doubted she knew we were all listening. "If it's something dangerous, I can help." She proved her point by holding up her weapon.

He sighed. "Do you know what day it is?"

"It's Thursday, why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I meant the actual date," he corrected. I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.

"April first," she said slowly.

"April Fools Day," Tucker said. "Hey, I knew something was special today, I just couldn't remember." He grinned, but then stopped. "Why?"

"Unfortunately, the ghosts know the date too," he said.

"And…" Sam asked, her eyes wide.

"They're in the fooling mood," he blurted.

There was a moment of silence and then I burst into laughter. "Dude, no way. How can ghosts play pranks on us?"

"It's quite easy when you have the power to become invisible, intangible, or you have guitars that make you do strange things," he said. Sam snorted for some reason I didn't catch.

"So let me get this straight," Valerie said, stepping forwards. "The ghosts are trying to mess with each other."

"I'm guessing it won't be long until they discover us either," Sam said.

"Yeah, which is why we need to get out of here," he said.

"What's wrong?" Sam and Tucker asked at the same time.

"It's a long story," he said. "But it took me forever to find you again. You went the wrong direction."

"Oh, great," Paulina grumbled. "I'm glad you found us Danny, we could have been wandering here forever." She smiled

Wait a second…

"You just said that," I told them.

"Said what?" Valerie asked.

"Like five seconds ago you were swooning over him," I just blurted.

Paulina glared at me in return and I ignored her. "Five minutes ago Danny wasn't even here," she insisted.

"Are you okay Dash?" Danny asked me.

"I…I'm fine," I grumbled. I wasn't insane, that was for sure. She _had _said that before. Before I'd interrupted, we'd been through all of it.

He laughed, almost sounding nervous. "Let's just get out of here." He started walking again and Sam continued to brush her hand down him, getting the dust off of him even though he'd said—"Don't," he muttered low to her, looking down at his hand. She stopped, her eyes widening as she looked at his hand as well.

What was going on?

We'd barely started walking once again when suddenly a figure leapt out of nowhere and crashed into Danny and both of them nearly toppled off the edge.

"Danny!" Valerie and Sam shouted.

I jumped backwards as both of them rolled towards me and I saw a glimpse of black hair before they fell completely off the rock, wrestling with each other.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" shouted a voice.

"What is going on?" Valerie asked, turning around, a weapon in her hand. She shouted as suddenly something blue surrounded her, closing her body into a large, strangely glowing box.

"Valerie!" Tucker shouted, accidentally dropping his PDA. (I was shocked, among many other things at the moment.)

But then it did something very odd and remained in the air, hovering there eerily. It then took off, zooming out of control and flew off on its own.

"Uh oh," he said.

"BEWARE!" said a voice.

"We're surrounded!" Paulina shrieked.

I looked down, starting to panic, and saw Danny fighting off—himself? No way. "Hey!" I shouted.

Both of them were flying in the air. I saw the dust covered one laughing, the black haired one kicking out—but missing oddly. That was the thing though. He hadn't missed; his foot had gone right through him.

I didn't remember taking a step forwards, but the next thing I knew, I had stepped off the rock, stepping into thin air. I yelled in terror, waving my arms out to no use to stop me, but it didn't help. I felt myself drop—not.

I stepped right onto pure air, and didn't fall. It was like I was walking on a thin sheet of glass. Paulina gasped.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"I don't know," I told her.

The two fighting figures nearly dislodged me as they floated back up and I really did feel myself start to fall this time, my feet suddenly unsupported by whatever it was that had been holding me up.

"Help!" I screamed, dropping lower. A hand grabbed mine and I looked up to see Danny above me and he pulled me back onto the rock.

"Thanks," I said after a minute. "Who were you fighting?"

"Danny, help me out here!" Tucker shouted, trying to get the box opened that Valerie was apparently still inside. He rushed over and they pried it off together.

Valerie stood up, her cheeks red, with both anger and exertion. "I swear, I am going to murder that--" She looked around and jumped out of the box. "Danny, what is going on?"

"Did you know that today is April first?" he asked, looking at all of us.

I sighed. "You said that before."

"When?" Paulina asked. "He just said it."

"No, never mind," I stated, dropping it.

"It's April Fools Day," Tucker said.

"Yeah, and unfortunately the ghosts know that too," he said. "Dash might have a point."

"A point about what?" I wondered.

"The ghosts are having a little too much fun pulling pranks," he told us. "We need to get out of here before anything else happens."

"Who attacked you?" Valerie asked. "And where did all the crap you have on you go?"

"That wasn't me," he said.

Silence.

"What?" Tucker asked finally.

"It was Technus. Well, it was me, but it was really Technus…does this make any sense?" he asked.

"No," Sam and Valerie said in unison.

"Technus's prank is creating clones or something. But I think they're holographic images, because they're really strange," he said.

"Wait, so how do we know it's the real you?" Valerie asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Ask me a question that you think only I would know and not some clone," he challenged.

"Sing the Tigger song and maybe I'll believe you," Tucker said.

Okay, that was funny. Even I laughed, and Danny looked down, shaking his head. "Bite me," he said.

"Oh, that's Danny," he said.

Valerie seemed convinced, but she kept out her weapon anyway. "So…the person we were speaking to…earlier?"

"That was a clone," he said. "So basically…in some strange way, I was the one who sent us here in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused. "I thought it was a ghost who sent us in here. How are you here, anyway?"

"It—It was," he said, sounding nervous again. "I mean, it's…really complicating."

"Don't worry Danny, we understand," Paulina cooed.

"Now, let's go back the other direction," Danny said. "Because my clone led you the wrong way."

"Ha, told you!" Valerie said triumphantly. She had to duck as something came flying at her face and yelled.

Whatever it was, it was small and fast and it slammed into the side of Sam's head. "Ow!" she yelled, ducking too late. It raised back up and aimed for her again.

"Hey, my PDA!" Tucker shouted.

"Do you have it on attack mode?" she asked, swinging at it with her hand as it pelted towards her.

"No, I didn't download that--"

"Tucker," Valerie insisted.

"Get this thing away from me!" Sam said, bending over again.

"Don't move," she said, raising her arm.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Tucker shouted.

Too late. A blast of energy fired from her weapon and aimed straight at the PDA, hitting it squarely above Sam's head.

Tucker looked mortified. "You…you…"

"We'll have a funeral when we get back," Valerie told him, giving him a look.

"Thank you," Sam said, brushing blasted electronic off of her.

"That was my favorite…" he said, almost sounding close to tears. I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…then, can we go now?" I asked.

"Possessed PDAs, clones…what else can go wrong?" Valerie asked.

"Don't…say that," Danny warned. "It's April Fools Day, remember? Let's go."

We followed him back the other direction and I shook my head, thinking. I had to agree with Tucker on one thing he'd once said. It was experiences like this that caused people like me to need therapy.

"Awkward silence," Tucker stated after about five minutes of walking.

There was a laugh from someone different and I stopped in my tracks. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Valerie and Sam asked.

"It was a laugh," Paulina said. She'd heard it too?

"Come on," Danny said. He looked like he'd heard it, but didn't want to.

"It was a child's laugh," she insisted.

"Which means it's Youngblood, come on," he urged.

"Youngblood?" Valerie asked. "Who's Youngblood?"

I soon found out.

It was a very small ghost and like Paulina had said, looked like a small child. He had a pale, freckly face and wore an odd, red jumpsuit.

"What are you a Power Ranger now?" Danny asked, holding out his hand suddenly. But then he saw me looking and swallowed, putting it down.

The ghost, obviously this Youngblood, laughed. "Not."

"Who are you talking to?" Valerie asked.

"Danny, I can't see anyone," Sam said.

"Me neither," Tucker said.

"How can _you _not see him?" Sam asked, as if surprised.

"Why can't you see him?" I asked them.

"Too many questions," the kid said. "You guys never get anything done."

"Where is he?" Tucker asked.

"Where is who?" Valerie demanded, holding up her weapon.

"It's just a kid," I told them.

"And only kids can see him," Danny said.

"What?" I asked. "I'm not a kid. I'm almost seventeen."

"Go away Youngblood," Danny said, ignoring me. Which, I didn't understand. I was old enough; why did I see him?

The ghost suddenly swished around and looked like an Egyptian mummy. "What about this one?"

"Oh, fabulous," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, it's better than "King Tuck's," he whined.

Danny's glance flickered over towards Tucker, who went, "What?" confused.

"What do you want Youngblood?" he snapped, looking annoyed.

"Danny, where is he?" he asked.

Youngblood laughed and suddenly disappeared. Valerie, Tucker, and Sam all looked at their friend for an answer. And they weren't the only ones who wished for an answer.

"Who was that?" Paulina asked, her hands wringing nervously in front of her as she crept towards Danny.

"Youngblood?" It was more of a call than a reply. _Would someone please answer a freaking question? _This was getting ridiculous.

"Hey, Fenton, start talking," I said. "What's up with him?"

"Don't move," he replied, not answering my question.

"Why?" Valerie asked.

"Because I can't," he answered, frozen in place.

Something moved behind Valerie and started rising up behind her. Whatever it was, she didn't seem to notice, but I did. Youngblood was hovering above her head, grabbing a silver object that was shaped like a coffee thermos.

Paulina screamed. "He's behind you!" she pointed frantically towards her.

"It's true!" I agreed.

"Valerie," Danny said, his eyes wide, still paralyzed. "Shoot him, now!"

"Shoot who?" she asked, looking around.

The ghost laughed and I don't know what made me do it, but I lunged towards him and grabbed the thermos thing from him quick and he gasped. "Hey!"

Valerie swerved around, flailing out her hand, but missing him. Why couldn't she see him? He was right behind her still, laughing his head off at her failed attempts to hit him.

I looked down at the object. "What is this?"

The answer never came because the next second he was flying in my face, grabbing it away from me.

"Watch this dude!" he said, pressing the button on the side.

It was pointed straight at Danny and it looked like the thing suddenly exploded, emitting a blue—white light. He yelled and then disappeared into thin air.

Youngblood tossed the thermos to me and I caught it, but just barely. All of them gasped and I looked up.

"Dash!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh, no…" Tucker said, his eyes wide.

"I didn't do anything," I told them. "He did."

"Who?" Valerie asked. "That Youngblood guy?"

"He--" I looked around, but there was no one else there. Of course he'd disappeared. "I swear, he was right there."

"Well, you just got rid of the only thing that could get us out of here alive," Paulina said.

"He's not a thing," Sam said.

"Girls, not now," Valerie said. "How do we get him out?" She looked like she was trying to fight back a laugh, and so did Tucker.

"What?" Paulina asked.

"Danny's gonna be ticked…" Tucker replied. "Do you know how long it's been since he's been in there?"

"Do you know how to get him out?" I hoped.

"He's been in there before?" Valerie asked, finally bursting into laughter.

"So…I didn't do something wrong?"

"No…we know how to get him out," Tucker said. "But boy you better run."

"I didn't do it," I repeated.

"I still vote on getting Danny back and getting out of here," Paulina suggested, stepping in.

I handed Valerie the thermos and she burst into laughter again. "Don't tell Fenton I was laughing at him."

"Oh, we will, don't worry," Tucker assured her. "Let's go back that way, shall we?"

We didn't get far at all.

There was a flash of light and another laugh, but this time different. And female. The light turned into a girl with flaming blue hair and green eyes. I recognized her immediately.

"Ember?" I asked along with Sam and Valerie.

The pop star smiled. "Hey, my lucky fans! Who's ready to rock?"

* * *

Ah, finally! I got that chapter done. And the next one is even better, ha ha! With more trouble, more laughs, and a lot of fun to come!

Oh, and I changed the sneak peek from Insight View around for a bit. Ignore the "guide" part if you read that. I'm not including that anymore.

Please R&R! Sorry, no sneak peeks!

_Next Updates: Extremities, Could It Be Any Harder, Flash, Serene Dream, Hanging By A Moment, If You're Not The One, Virtuality, Insight View, Grease Remix, Butterfly Wings (New), Life Sucks and Then You Die (New), Quiet Words (New)_

Lateraina Wolf


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